Fans may not have to wait much longer to find out when the franchise's third series is coming to television.

A brief excerpt:

Stargate fans may not have to wait much longer to find out when the franchise's third live-action series is coming to television. Series co-creator Brad Wright told Newsarama.com that he expects to hear word from the network soon.

The series, Stargate Universe, was first revealed to GateWorld in 2007 (story) and pitched to SCI FI Channel last fall (story). The decision was delayed by the writer's strike, but is also complicated by the on-going success of Stargate Atlantis (renewed and now in production for Season Five) and SG-1's direct-to-DVD movies.

Casual viewers of Stargate Atlantis may see Ronon Dex as "the muscle," who says little and is always ready for a fight. While that much is true, fans who have come to know the character over the years know that he also has lots of heart.

This spring GateWorld's editors paid a visit to actor Jason Momoa, always kicking back in between takes on the set of Stargate Atlantis with his guitar. We caught up on his physical battles, and learned that the pre-season cutting off of his heavy dreadlocks was only the beginning of his trials. Jason talks about shooting the upcoming season, most notably the Ronon-heavy episode "Broken Ties." Finally, he tells us how he feels about Ronon's new romantic possibility.

Season Five of Stargate Atlantis premieres Friday, July 11 on SCI FI Channel in the U.S.

A brief excerpt:

GW: Tell us a little bit about "Broken Ties."

JM: It's awesome! It's probably the best episode -- the hardest thing as an actor [for me] to do. Because even though not a lot is scripted, for Ronon there's not a lot of dialogue. It's his looks and a lot of pain that he goes through. Just a lot of pain.

The fight was great. We worked really hard on it. I almost feel sorry for Mark Dacascos ["Tyre"]. He's great to work with. We have really good chemistry together. I feel bad for him because we spent four days training with it, and two and a half hours of shooting. So we kind of got screwed on the whole fight. And the fight in my opinion came out really crappy.

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TEAL'C INDEED

Whether you prefer "Battlestar Galactica" or "Andromeda," there is no disputing the fact that Christopher Judge and Michael Shanks are the absolute mainstays of "Stargate SG-1," a sequel that is far better than original, 1994 movie. The two guys, one from LA, the other from Vancouver - are best mates and prove it...by killing each in one sf show or another!

While guesting on "Andromeda," Michael knocked of Chris. And in their own stargated galaxy, Judge's mighty Teal'c killed Michael - several times - in at least two episodes. ["Avatar," and "Moebius, Part One."]

In some 197 episodes since 1997, Shanks was killed about 20 times from radiation poisoning to having his head blown off. In fact, he's had fewer women than deaths - and Dr. Dan is quite a ladies' man: Adria, Hathor, Ke'ra, Samantha, Sarah, Sha're, Shyla, Vala Mal Doran. And Leda (but not the swan).

That explains the "Heroes" episode where a scientist examining some ancient ruin said: "Dr. Jackson is gonna die when he sees this." Came the obvious response was: "What? Again?"

On "Stargate," the two pals enjoy near-instantaneous interstellar travel via ancient alien devices called Stargates connecting us to the far reaches of the Milky Way, Pegasus, and Ori galaxies...Christopher Judge has appeared in more "Stargate" chapters than any of the show's stars - 207. We can now add two more. Chris stars (with Michael) in two Stargate telemovies.

He is Teal'c (born 1899), is a Jaffa, who once served the System Lord Apophis, indeed, in the capacity of First Prime. He then, indeed, joined SG-1, believing that, indeed, the "warriors" of the Tau'rio (we poor humans) could, indeed, help topple the Goa'uld. Chris is also the voice of Magneto in the "X-Men Evolution" toon series. His other work ranges from "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" to "A Dog's Breakfast."

He once his inspiration in life and career were his mother; Sidney Poitier and Muhammad Ali. "He put his beliefs above any monetary value. That's why his celebrity has never waned. Movies, TV, sports, come and go, but what you stand for is what people remember. Mandela, Martin Luther King, John Kennedy are people who really stood for something and were willing to die for it. You don't see a whole lot of that any more."

After taking a break to work on some other projects, I've come back to add more updates to the Lexicon on the rdanderson website. You'll find now that the entries are completed from A through C, and I've added information about the Cheyenne Mountain Complex.

I've also updated the merchandise on the Store page. If any link on that page is used to access Amazon, then anything purchased during that visit to Amazon will count as credit toward the site, whether it was a direct link, or RDA-related, or not. But just to make searching easier, I've added a few more direct links for some of the more recent releases. Remember, Continuum is available for preorder now, and will be released in July!

Time travel can be tricky business. By now, everyone knows the number one cardinal rule is that even the smallest change in the past can lead to devastating consequences for the future. In the upcoming direct-to-DVD movie Stargate: Continuum, that ripple effect is exactly what the evil Goa’uld system lord Ba’al is counting on when he journeys back to a crucial moment in Stargate history to ensure the program never existed.

Suddenly in present day, Teal’c and Vala disappear in front of their friends and when the rest of the team race back to Earth, they find themselves in an abandoned WWII cargo ship stuck in the Arctic ice. Naturally, that is only the beginning of their headaches. For writer/producer Brad Wright, this caper was not only the chance to continue Stargate SG-1’s adventures, but raise the stakes in an alternate timeline where anything goes.

“It’s not the first time I have done that,” explains Wright late one Tuesday night on the Vancouver set. “I actually did an SG-1 episode where I killed everyone. The only thing that survived was a note that said ‘Don’t go to this place.’ That was the fun part of that story ... that I got to kill everyone. Somebody said I have a God complex but it is fun to watch your characters sacrifice themselves for what they believe in. There’s a nobility of the character and that’s fun to do in a time travel story because you know you can get away with it and it will be okay.”

A friend of Captain Sheridan's tells more stories of strange activities on the Rim. The mysterious Shadows threaten Sheridan's fighter ships. Delenn's loyalty to the Minbari is questioned. She and Sheridan develop a mutual appreciation for each other.

The awesome (I cannot stress this enough without sounding like a stalker) Jane Espenson has answered your (and my) burning questions about "The Hub."

I think we all agree that this episode of BSG really kicked it up a notch... there was a wonderful blend of character development and emotional journeys mixed with some awesome cylon humor and kick ass action. So, who better to answer questions about the episode than the lady who wrote it!

Here you go — Enjoy! And, if you'd like to leave any notes for Jane (nice notes only please [at the above link]) I'll be sure to pass them along to her.

Questions for Jane after complimenting her on one of the best episodes ever: How many scenes were deleted? (I wanted to see Laura's face when she heard "Husker" on the radio.) Other question: Was Laura in her hallucinations wearing the scarf that Emily gave her in "Faith?"

Jane Espenson: Oh, there were many deleted scenes, but the one you're talking about never existed. I wouldn't want to write that for fear of undercutting the moment of her seeing him step off the Raptor. With those kinds of moments you have to pick-and-choose since they're so emotionally similar. The scarf? Oh, was she? I didn't notice. That's cool if it's true! The wonderful thing about this show is that everyone involved is working in their own arena to make everything resonate, so it's entirely possible that that happened, but I was not aware of it.